Crimson opens his eyes and jumps up instantly looking around taking in the situation while also keeping his guard up.
Crimson: We all fell unconscious from a fall? There's a pile of rubble, and we're still in this stone labyrinth it would appear..
Fritz slowly lifts up and starts looking at Crimson with her usual emotionless glowing light blue eyes, and then she stands to her feet, inspecting a crack in her arm.
Fritz: Actually Crimson, I can't fall unconscious, but for some reason I couldn't move..
Crimson: That's right, you're a living doll.. Tell me what happened.
Fritz: Well I'll tell you everything relevant.. Some sort of magic transferred us to a different place, and it lingered over us for approximately four hours. It kept you unconscious, and just recently dispersed.
Crimson: Where's Marigold?
Fritz: She vanished when we were pulled down here..
Crimson: That's.. Alright let's hurry and look for her then.
Fritz: Right, I still sense her nearby, but I sense around five other auras in this place, excluding me, you, and Marigold.
Crimson: Five.. Let's assume at least one is the queen of this kingdom considering this is what happened when we entered her palace. So who are the other four?
Fritz: That is a good guess. Four out of five of them have very powerful auras with two of them standing in their own league, probably too strong for me to take.
Crimson: Can you pinpoint Marigold's location?
He begins walking forward, and Fritz follows him down the stone corridor.
Fritz: Unfortunately that magic has altered my sensors, but that seems to be the only thing it altered.
Crimson: Interesting..
Fritz: I sense that you are strong, yet you don't seem to use magic often. May I ask why?
Crimson: Hm you were supposed to gather information about me huh? Well, I'll help you out a bit I suppose.. I grew up without magic, and I worked hard every day to help out my parents who were.. Adventurers, to say the least.
Fritz: You obtained magic later then?
Crimson: Yeah.. That's a long story, but let's just say I met someone who was strange. They gave me a power, but it is a bad one. One I'll never use again in fact.
Fritz: I see.. Well I suppose we should focus on finding Marigold now.
Crimson: Yeah.. I might tell you the whole story later anyway, so let's get going.
They begin running swiftly down the halls, searching every crevice for the potentially injured Marigold. However as they do, Marigold finally wakes up where she is, lying on a coat with a wet cloth over her head.
Marigold: Mmh?
Boy: You're awake.. Please stay calm, I believe you caught a fever while being transported here.
Marigold: I'm.. Soaked...
Boy: Yeah your body was oozing water for some reason. It was probably an instinctual defense mechanism. I'm Fuuten from the Katana clan. I'm the queen's samurai, and I can keep you safe from whoever is doing this..
Marigold: So this wasn't..
Fuuten: No it isn't our doing, please take a second to breath so you can filter out any magic particles from your lungs.
Marigold: A-ah that was magic wasn't it!? Someone attacked us, where is Crimson!?
She jolts up and begins frantically looking around, and Fuuten sits on his knees patiently.
Fuuten: Your friend isn't here. I was dragged here at the same time as you and your friend wasn't with us. We're under attack by two or more enemies currently.
Marigold stands to her feet and grabs her cross necklace, checking it carefully for any damage before looking forward with a determined face.
Fuuten: I take it, you're ready to go?
Marigold: Lets find him okay? We're missing a living doll as well.. I hope they're together.
Fuuten stands and dusts himself off before taken his katana out and lightly tapping the wall once with it and listening closely.
Fuuten: Hmm... Let's go this way. There are a few threats on the way but I believe I know where your friend is.
Marigold: (Right, he's blind.. I should look out for him.)
They both begin trekking forward and not long after, they already come into contact with someone.
Fuuten: Who goes there!?
???: I'm Vander.. And before you ask, yes I'm your enemy. I'm not the one who dragged you here, but its my job to destroy you both where you stand got it? Now hurry and let's get this over with.
Marigold: (This guy is seriously strong.. If I fight him can I really win..?)
Fuuten: I see, so you wish to take us on? Very well, I will try and keep the battle short for you since you obviously don't have time..
Vander: Yeah yeah, I said all that so we wouldn't have to talk. You just counteracted my intentions pretty dang quick huh?
he stretches and yawns as he walks toward them, and a purple aura begins glowing around him. After he finishes his yawn his fists ball up and purple flames surround them.
Vander: Alright I won't hold back so prepare yourselves!!
Fuuten: Black hole slash..
Fuuten's katana emits a faint white glow and as Vander throws a powerful punch, the swipe from the sword connects with the flames, causing a large explosion and shaking the entire labyrinth.
Marigold: Wh-what just happened..? Fuuten..?
She looks around in the cloud of dust, and flashes of light begin dancing around her while the sound of clanging steel and flames swirling is echoed throughout the area.
Marigold: (They're moving fast, but I think I can just barely keep up.. Just enough to dodge.)
She kneels low to the ground, studying their movement patterns through the darkness, and as time goes on, she slowly closes her eyes, the sounds turning into vibrations that inform her of everything happening in the space the two battle in.
Marigold: (I can.. Feel their movements.. Fuuten is defending against all of Vander's attacks, while Vander is charging at him recklessly.. Without my help, Fuuten is only strong enough to just match Vander's onslaught...)
All while this battle is going on, Fritz and Crimson continue running through the corridors side by side with great speed.
Fritz: I can only assume the violent shaking was from one of the five others excluding Marigold!
Crimson: Yeah if I were to take an educated guess, I'd say someone is helping either the queen of this kingdom, or they're protecting Marigold, both cases meaning one thing!
Fritz: Understood, the blind samurai is on the move then, so we must make haste!
Waiting just ahead of the two is another strange person. A man leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
Mysterious Man: It's about time you came here Crimson.. Right on time actually...
*End Of Chapter 4*